Rant

OK, remember how I downgraded my cable to basic only on Tuesday? Yeah. That was fine. And then on Wednesday, it wasn't working at all. So I called Comcast (the ONLY cable company in our area), and they came out on Friday morning.

The technician told me that they had to replace the cable wire, they can't bury it and so that will have to wait until spring when the ground thaws. That's completely understandable.

So then my service went out AGAIN as the cable was not working anymore as of Friday night. So I called for service, and they sent some techs out this afternoon. I think one was in training.

They told me it was a bad connection, they repaired it. Great. I thanked them for coming out.

It is freezing cold here in Minnesota and so certain areas are without service due to that, and then random homes here and there...so they are insanely busy. I really did appreciate their coming out.

Well, just now my neighbor knocked on my door. We live in a townhome complex, and the outdoor cable box is at the corner of his unit. The top of it is off, the cable is strung over doorways and windows, and basically fluttering loose in the wind. (I did tell him about the inability of the company to bury the cable at this time.)

So he messed with the stuff on the end...and my service is officially disconnected again. Had he not done anything but tell me about it, it would have been fine. His cable service is still working!

So I called Comcast again, and got a guy who inanely repeated platitutes to me about the wires expanding and contracting in the cold, having to do with the bad or lacking reception. I explained AGAIN that I understood this, but there is a larger issue from the company's perspective both because of a need for more service calls to this unit, and also because any joe who comes along can now have access to the cables to each unit. (No offense to anyone named "Joe" who is likely a good and moral person.) For example, my neighbor, who should have left well enough alone, didn't. He didin't do anything to steal the cable, but his actions have caused a needed call to restore my service....again!

I told the rep that it's likely an easy and quick remedy, we know the problem is isolated at that box, I'm totally aware that I'll have servce interrruption for the rest of the winter because of the cable freely exposed to the elements. But there is a different issue that they as a company need to address. So they might send someone by.

Guaranteed that they'll fix the box issue outside but I'll still be without service. Which isn't a huge deal as I'll really only be watching the news and weather and random shows here and there. But then there's another service call, I'll have to be home for it in order to verify that my TV is recieving the signal, etc. It'll add up to time off work and time missed from the gym and anything else that requires that I leave my house.

If I had any regular analog reception at all, I'd just cancel the cable altogether and be done with it. But I get NOTHING but static, and behind the static, on ONE channel, some floaty images and staticky verbalizations that might be the language of the news anchors. Thus, I am forced to pay for cable.

And satellite isn't an option for me due to the placement of a neighbor's deck as part of the building design. But I'm so fed up I might look into it anyway the next time I'm considering getting more than local channels.

* sigh *

I'm so sick of this problem. Happily I have DVD's I'm watching and there was nothing on TV tonight, anyway, but I did want to watch the news and check in at EWTN which is included in the local package.

Ironically, I'm less concerned about an interrption in service, and more concerned about the need for the service calls because they so cut into my time that could be better spent doing anything but waiting for someone to come by my house.

Although if the next service tech is nice, maybe I'll give him a bowl of chili. For the most part, it's not the technician's fault (the last ones, maybe), but they're working hard on a Sunday when they shouldn't have to work at all, and likely dealing with a lot of cranky customers.

I'm just Agitated Adoro today now because my neighbor complained to ME, making ME have to complain to someone else, and because my neighbor is the proximate cause of my current lack of cable service.

* sigh *

Will you all pray for my neighbor? I'm too irritated. And pray for all the cable guys who really are scramblng to deal with stupid issues that shouldn't even be issues.